Nou-En

In rural Japan, as in many areas around the world, small communities are suffering from rapid population decline as young people flock to the cities. A self perpetuating cycle develops in which rural communities lose their youth to entertainment and work opportunities in the city, which cripples the local economy by leaving behind small towns and villages lacking an able workforce.
Here in Sasayama, Hyogo Prefecture, the evidence of this can be easily seen on any walk or bike ride around the valley. In some villages more than half of the houses are vacant. Many fields have been abandoned and have begun the rapid transition back to a more natural state. Elementary schools with great facilities are being forced to close due to low enrollment. At our local elementary school this year's First Grade class has three students. Village elders possess a lifetime of priceless skills and knowlege that is not being passed on because of a lack of interested youth. Looking forward in time, it is worrisome to imagine the state of these communities if current trends continue.
Seeing these things, we here at Nou En have been motivated to work for positive change. Our aim is to encourage young people from around the world to return to rural communities. We organize enthusiastic volunteers (mostly through the WWOOF organization, http://www.wwoofjapan.com) to help local farmers in exchange for healthy food and invaluable local knowlege. We network and assist local organic farms with vegetable and rice production on a regular basis. We try to enthusiastically jump in and help local villagers whenever we can. In addition to these projects, we also have our own fields and gardens as well as chickens and goats that we care for.
Because part of our aim is encouraging people to want to live in the country side we also take time to enjoy the benefits of country living. We go hiking in the surrounding mountains, swimming in ponds and streams (especially during the hot humid Japanese summer!), barbecues with friends on weekends, kendo lessons at the local gymnasium and much more.
Mostly we try to provide a communal living environment where we work, learn, and grow together, all while striving to benefit and elevate the local community.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Photos from Sara, Spring 2010

One of our WWOOFers from the spring, Sara, took lots of awesome pictures of the project while she was here showing the house and surrounding fields, lots of the things we worked on in that time, and everyone involved. It's a nice to look back on these photos and remember all the people that came through and all the fun stuff we did. Also it's interesting to see what we were eating at that time compared to what we're eating now that it's summer and we have loads and loads of fresh veggies coming in every day. Pretty much every meal we ate sansai salad (wild greens) gathered from the edges of the fields to go along with venison and brown rice. I think at that point we had even run out of our winter turnips. A goal for this fall is to plant lots of veggies to tide us over through those skinny months... it really was slim pickings, but made for lots of creativity in the kitchen.

Here is Sara with a carving knife and a bloody deer shank, soon to be frozen or cooked....
....over this incredible antique wood-burning stove, one of the best features of the Tsuji house, especially in those chilly spring months.
This is Julian preparing sansai tempura. Mmmmm....
We made our own koji (fermented rice fungus used to make sake, soy sauce, miso, etc.) for our homemade miso experiment. The rice ferments in these trays for a few days underneath the hot kotatsu table. We have yet to see how it turned out since it takes about a year for the miso to mature.
Mama Yuriko and the WWOOFers getting messy, stirring up some koji.
Sara, Momoko, Giacomo, ?, and Nanae making mochi together.
Sachiko, Sara, and Pierre making onigiri. Hmm... parmesan cheese onigiri???
Yuriko, Nanae, Jeremiah, and Seth preparing nobiru, the cute little wild onions that pop up everywhere in spring.
Nanae, one of our students-turned-WWOOFers, who is now headed to the Netherlands with another WWOOFer. Yay, Nanae. Sounds like fun.
And this is Sara making some seriously perfect rows in the Nou En Batake community garden.The soil perfectly turned and sculpted to a chiseled edge, her rows rival even obaachan and ojiichan's.
Me, Jeremiah, and Sara getting silly in bamboo hats while cutting bamboo shoots for canning and eating.
Robert taking Bear for a walk. Bear belongs to our friend and they let us take him on walks whenever we like.
The Tsuji house backyard....
....the Tsuji house garage and our indispensable K-truck...
....and the Tsuji house itself. Home sweet Tsuji house.





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1 comment:

  1. UnknownAugust 19, 2010 at 11:12 PM

    Wood-burning stoves can be installed in any room of your house.When choosing a new wood-burning stove, keep in mind that the size of your wood-burning stove is determined by the size of the space that needs to be heated.Wood burning stoves are eco-friendly as compare to other fuels.It is also environment friendly and money saving also.

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